December 19th, 2008
What to do when a business hotel doesn't have a WiFi network?
That’s the question that I’m facing this morning. I’m in Wingate by Wyndam facility in Atlanta, GA, this morning. I’m presenting the findings of a research project to a KG client in a few hours. When I came down to the breakfast room and asked the desk agent what magic needed to be done to connect to the WiFi network, I was stunned to hear her say that the Wingate only had wired internet access in the business office and in the rooms upstairs. Since I always check about the availability of WiFi before reserving a room, I was really surprised to hear this.
If I was using a wireless phone that allowed Internet connection sharing, I could simply go to work using my Smartphone’s access to my service provider’s network. Oh wait! I can’t do that. I have a iPhone and AT&T and they have carefully restricted access to such a service. I used to be able to do that with my Treo and with my HTC Advantage. Hmmm. What to do.
Any suggestions?
8:07 AM edit
I spoke with the hotel manager. I guess I was wrong. There was a WiFi network. It just wasn’t visible for the 30 minutes I futzed with it while sipping my morning coffee. When it became visible once again (I guess it was on a coffee break too), I couldn’t connect with my MacBook Pro. Their login procedure didn’t like Safari or FireFox.
I’m thankful that I can still get to the network using my Smartphone.
Daniel Kusnetzky is a member of the senior management team of The 451 Group. He is responsible for research and publications on a broad array of technology topics. He examines emerging technology trends, vendor strategies, research and development issues, and end-user integration requirements. You can follow Dan on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 12/19/08
